Gainesville school board's chairman suggested Saturday that the city system build a school to replace Gainesville Middle, rather than build a second middle school as has been discussed.

Gainesville High School then could use the middle school to house a ninth-grade academy, Frank Harben said.

"I'm not so sold on the idea of two middle schools," he said. "In middle school, students start to jell into groups. With two middle schools, you've got two big groups going into one high school. You could have some problems."

Other board members seemed to favor Harben's idea.

"We need to explore the idea," said board member David Syfan. "I'm also concerned about two middle schools."

Board member Lee Highsmith did express some concerns about scheduling, particularly as an increasing number of middle schoolers are taking high school-level courses.

"Our ninth-graders are no longer your typical ninth-graders," she said.

Also, Harben suggested, the new middle school could carve out separate space for a sixth-grade academy.

School officials have been talking for while about building a new school to replace the overcrowded Gainesville Middle, which is off Woods Mill Road.

The school system also may eventually build a sixth elementary school.

Superintendent Steven Ballowe has said that three elementary schools could feed into one middle school and three could feed into the other middle school. The two middle schools would feed into one high school.

Under Harben's plan, the high school could benefit from the additional space. Finance director Angela Parsons said the high school could mushroom from its current 1,200 students to 1,600 over the next five years.

Ballowe said the system is working with the city government, including parks and recreation, to find land for a new middle school by July.